Don't Fear the Reaper

~~~ In the meantime, with Sam and Cthylla ~~~

They arrive at the swimming pool, and the atmosphere between them is a bit strange because both of them are a bit socially awkward without their partners.

"So… how long have you and Aiden been together? When we met him the last time, he was kinda giving off the lone wolf vibe," asks Sam as they search for an employee or someone else who can give them some information.

"Uh, for a long time, actually. We met and then kinda stuck together. When you met him, I was with my parents, and he isn't really known for talking with people about his personal life.

So, it's no wonder you never heard about me," says Cthylla with a strange smile.

She knows her boyfriend's attitude of telling his enemies everything about himself before crushing them while leaving other people in the dark about him.

"And are you like him? I mean, a witch or something like that? I saw how you stopped Dean; not everybody can simply stop him with one hand."

"I don't know if I would identify myself as a witch…" says Cthylla carefully because she needs to be cautious about what she says next to a hunter.

Sam notices that and says, "Sorry if it sounded weird; I didn't mean to discriminate against you or anything like that. I'm not quite normal myself, I think."

"Don't worry about it. I learned about witchcraft stuff from Aiden, and what makes you so abnormal?" Cthylla blurts out after sensing Sam's sincerity.

"I think I'm somewhat of a psychic or something like that because I have strange visions that started to become reality…" says Sam, as if recalling something painful.

Cthylla needs to get on her tippy-toes to reach his shoulder since Sam is even taller than Rasiel.

She gives him some reassuring pats on the shoulder to lift his spirits and then says in a motherly tone, "Welcome to the club of the freaks then. If you ever want to talk about it more, I will listen."

"Yeah, th—"

"Hello, can I help you two?" interrupts an employee who is cleaning right now and sees them wandering around.

"Oh, sorry. We are reporters from the Ford City Tribune, and we are here to gather some information about the death of Marshall Hall," says Sam professionally while Cthylla stays quiet and lets him do the talking at first.

"Oh, Marshall. Yeah, he was a great athlete. I was actually here when he died."

"Really? Can you tell us a few things about him and how he died?" Cthylla chimes in, finally able to act as a reporter after studying for nearly four years.

"Sure, he was a healthy guy. He swam every day, didn't smoke, and was well-liked by the people here. And I'll tell you one thing, the heart attack was really bizarre."

This makes Sam's ears nearly heat up, and he asks, "How so?"

"Well, he was running like a madman and said that there was something after him, before screaming in pain and collapsing," says the man, while goosebumps forming on his body as he remembers it.

"Did he say what it was?" continues Cthylla.

"Not really, but there was nothing there, just thin air…" says the man, casting down his eyes, not wanting to think about it further.

Sam notices it and says, "Alright, thanks for your information. It was really helpful."

The man nods, and they are about to leave when Sam notices a broken clock, sparking his curiosity again.

"Hey, buddy? It seems your clock is busted."

"Oh yeah, we can't get it working for some reason. It just froze at 7:45 am."

"Is that the same time Marshall died?" asks Sam, already knowing the answer.

The man looks surprised and says, "How do you know?"

~~~ Rasiel's POV ~~~

After the drama at the house, Dean was even grumpier than Bobby.

He didn't talk to me during the entire ride to the hotel where Sam and Cthylla were already waiting for us with the information they had gathered.

We have separate rooms, of course, but since I sense Cthylla in the same room as Sam, I follow Dean to his room.

When we enter, we see two nerds sitting by their laptops, searching for something.

As soon as Sam sees his brother, he suddenly looks guilty and concentrates back on the laptop. While Cthylla waves happily at us and eats some sweets.

"Did you guys find something out about the Reaper? We got nothing," says Dean, throwing his jacket on his bed.

"I'm sorry," says Sam quietly.

This makes Dean stare at him and he asks, "Sorry about what?"

"Marshall Hall died at 7:45 at the exact time when Roy healed you… so the Reaper really stole his life.

"And gave it to me..." says Dean, plumping down on his bed while Sam looks at him concerned.

"Sadly yes, we also put together a list of everyone Roy's healed, six people over the past year, and cross-checked them with the local obits.

Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died from the same symptom Le Grange was healing at the time. So the Reaper had a lot to do," skims Cthylla in.

"You never should have brought me here!" says Dean angrily, throwing his lamp towards the wall angrily, but I catch it and place it safely next to me.

Then I say, "Don't blame your brother or lamps for trying to save you. Since it wouldn't change anything about the dead people anyway, it would have happened no matter what you guys would have done"

"And I didn't know this would happen," says Sam, looking his brother in the eyes, which calms Dean down.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, I walk to Cthylla's bag where she is hiding the stuff that can solve all problems for some time, and take out the whiskey bottle and show it to them.

So after we let our friend Jack Daniel talk to our souls, the atmosphere becomes calmer and we can talk peacefully about the case while sitting around the table.

"We probably also found out how the preacher controls the Reaper," says Cthylla and places a hand-drawn Coptic Cross that looks exactly like the cross in the tent, while Sam places a Tarot card next to it.

The Tarot card is the Hierophant and shows a skeletal high priest holding a scepter with the Coptic Cross on top of it.

"He's using a drawing and a Tarot card?" asks Dean, a bit tipsy.

"No, but look at the crosses. They're exactly the same. Tarot cards date back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic and a few of them veered into the dark stuff, like Necromancy and how to control Death."

"So he found a way to bind the Reaper with black magic?" asks Dean, looking at me as if I would know something about it.

I shrug and say, "It's possible. Magic can be very potent in the right hands and can do basically anything."

The only thing I'm not so sure about is that Roy is the guy who is doing this...

"We need to stop this," says Dean, emptying his glass.

"Stopping it how?" asks Sam, probably knowing the answer Dean would give him because I know his answer too.

"You know how," says Dean coldly.

I can see Cthylla wanting to say something after hearing this, but I stop her telepathically for now and let the brothers discuss it.

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about, Dean? We can't kill Roy."

"Sam, the guy is playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies. That's a monster in my book," says Dean, getting too hot-blooded again.

"No. We're not going to kill a human being. We do that, we're no better than he is."

"Ok, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill the Reaper. Any other bright ideas, college boy?" says Dean, starting to become personal.

"Yes, we find out how he is doing it and break the spell," says Sam without letting himself be provoked by his brother.

"Good, finally something we can work with without killing a preacher in cold blood. Let's check out the tent and their home," says Cthylla, after holding back from slapping Dean for his provocations against her new friend.

She seems to prefer the passive way, like Sam.

But if I were a normal hunter and had to deal with it without endangering my people, I would probably kill Roy and his wife, and then burn down the tent and his house.

But since I'm not, of course, I wouldn't do that if it's not necessary…

~~~ POV of an unnamed Reaper in the woods ~~~

Father is calling me again after such a long time. I can hear his voice in my head, and strangely, he wants me to kill some people and give their lives to some strangers.

But I'm an obedient son and would always do as he says…

So, I am currently watching the next person my father told me is not worth living. It is a female human who is jogging in the woods.

I follow her around until my father will tell me it's time to deal with her.

'Now bring her life here, my son.'

'Yes, father.'

I arrive in front of her and she freezes, so I easily grab her, take her life force, and she falls to the ground for my other siblings to take care of.

So now I only need to go back into the tent and give the life force to the new host… The only problem is that something was there last time.

A being that was first invisible to me, as if it didn't exist in my realm of perception, and only showed himself after spotting me.

This should normally be impossible, since even Archangels can't hide from us while we can hide from them.

But this thing could see me, it stared at me and came closer…

The last time I sensed something so otherworldly and abnormal was when I stood next to my father as he unleashed the great flood upon this world.

But he was not my father, no he felt like the complete opposite of him.

Luckily, my job was done there, and I could go; otherwise, I don't know what could have happened to me.

Whenever I can talk to my father again, I need to warn him about this thing, because I'm sure I found something that could be dangerous for us all…

Not to mention the female thing who was standing right behind him.

So I take a deep breath, put on my most fitting suit, and teleport back to the tent, making myself ready for the worst, but luckily the being is not there.

Then I give some old man the life force of the woman and am free to go until my father calls me again.

And, like the obedient son I am, I will do as he pleases.